The Blue Ridge

Mr. Vandervilt (who built the Biltmore Estate) definitely had some good architects and landscape planners...including Olmstead who also did Central park in NY.

 On the south side of the Biltmore mansion,a great view could be had from the vine covered patio, of his property which stretched for miles, all the way to Mount Pisgah.  I'm going to show you the distant views first, then maybe we can figure out which one is Pisgah, which has a tower on top of it.

I'm thinking the high one on the left side is probably it.  So let's do some cropping of the original photos and see what we get.

It's a bit cloudy and we had rain by 5 pm, but this was the best that I was able to capture.

The Biltmore Resident

Southern facade of the mansion

Vines shade a large patio that looks out to the North Carolina mountains...though they are leafless at this time, both mountains and the vines.

A resident of the mansion, on the exterior at least

Mr. Crow was probably used to photographers, and posed for a while

Then he flew away

I'll share some of the mountain views tomorrow

A lunch counter from yesterday

I was surprised how many people came in from the cold to have lunch at Woolworth Walk.
My friend and I had also come to see the arts and crafts on display over the 2 levels of a former Woolworths, in Asheville, NC

The quality of work was surprisingly good, with quite a variety of media.

I admit to having a preconceived expectation (prejudice actually) that because this had formerly been a "dime store" the crafts would also be the more shall-I-say...cheap versions!  Nope.  There were a few displays of DIY which I skipped looking at, but most of them were high quality, and some incredibly good.

This was actually a gallery, where fine art was occasionally displayed.

I can never get a good photo of my friend, even when we talk about her posing for me, but this was a candid attempt.

 She was busy showing me photos of her foster kittens.  They are darling, of course.

 Oh yes, lunch was good and quite reasonable.

Staying colorful

You know I've got some more flowers to share with you.

It's the bright spot in my living room this morning, as grey skies and rain are right through the windows.  Memories are spurred by looking at these photos I want to share with you.

Quote for today:

Aborigines know they do not own the land but are a part of it and it is their duty to look after the earth.

Into the hothouse - 2

Today's quote:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

FLOWERS!

Have you ever walked through a Conservatory in winter?

Biltmore Conservatory, Asheville, NC

I remember seeing a wonderful exhibit of blown glass sculptures interacting with wonderful vegetation in Atlanta at the Botanical Gardens, maybe not winter, but still it was a great relief to see such beauty.  Chihuly glass is pretty wonderful all by itself.  So are flowers.

Chihuly glass at Dallas Arboretum

But this trip was to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  The Conservatory had lots of orchids, palms, and spring blooms in pots.  Ah.

My only criticism was there were repetitions of the same plants throughout the greenhouses, (except perhaps for the actual orchid room.)  But I guess that works when the main focus of flowers at this estate is to have table decorations in hallways and banquet rooms inside.  The actual blooms from the Conservatory were not what I saw inside while walking through the rooms...rather they looked like they came from hot houses or were imported from a place where it's summer right now.

Conservatory, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

And the gardens are still dormant, though the daffodils were beginning to peep up.  I'll show you them under the trellessed roses here...then more will come tomorrow.